Adam Laham heads back to court in case of five-year-old killing three-year-old with his gun

It was a bloody holiday season, but there's little doubt which crime was the most startling -- the death of Rolyn Javier, age five, at the hands of a three-year-old wielding a loaded gun allegedly left out by Adam Laham, 23. Laham's slated to be back in court tomorrow for a bond hearing supported by an affidavit, on view below, that contains one shock after another.

According to the document, Lakewood Police officers were dispatched to the Eagle Crest Apartments, at 1614 Iris Street, just shy of 10 a.m. on December 23. At the residence in question, they found Rolyn, who was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital within the hour, and a slew of others: Rolyn's father, Donald Javier; his roomate, Aubry Rosenburg; Laham and his fiancée, Stacy Ward; plus friend Paul Manger and two of Rolyn's siblings (including a sister and the three-year-old boy).

Sorting out this mass of humanity took some time -- but police eventually learned that Laham, Ward and Manger had traveled to Colorado from Kansas on December 19, with Laham and Ward staying at a hotel for a couple of days before relocating to Javier's place. There, they bunked in a bedroom shared by the boys.

On the morning in question, the adults were gathered in the main room of the house while the kids were in the bedroom. Everything seemed fine until the sound of a shot rang out. Donald sprinted into the bedroom, then told the others to phone 911. Rosenburg entered the room shortly thereafter to find Rolyn down and seriously wounded. She tried to perform CPR on the boy, but to no avail.

As for the weapon that did the damage, it was identified as a Kel-Tech .32 caliber automatic handgun. Ward said it was Laham's, while Rosenburg described the pistol as being tiny and looking like a toy. According to Rolyn's sister, the kids found it in the room, and she told the boys not to touch it before heading to the living room. Shortly thereafter, she heard a "pop" -- one that turned out to be fatal.

What happened? The three-year-old told officers that the gun had been on a bucket and "I just wanted to show him the gun." When he did, he accidentally "shooted" Rolyn.

Other details emerged from an interview with Laham, who admitted that the gun was his; he said he typically sleeps with it under his pillow.

That day, he lingered in bed for about half an hour before emerging from the bedroom. "The kids' parents told them, you know, that we're staying in their game room or whatever -- don't go in there, you know," he's quoted as saying. "And, you know, I seen him wanting to go in the room to play his Xbox, you know, 'cause he's always on it. And I said, 'Okay,' you know -- 'Go ahead.' And, you know, we're up, you know -- I'd got up and then I seen Stacy. You know, she left the room also, so I was like, 'Okay.'"

Wasn't he concerned about the kids being totally unsupervised in a room with a loaded gun -- one that lacked a safety? His response: "I'm not used to having kids in the house. You know, I just leave [the gun] out and, you know, I don't ever have to worry about it.

"It was my fault," he continued. "You know, that I left it out, pretty much."

The kids, for their part, were apparently growing comfortable around firearms. Despite their tender ages, Donald was teaching them about guns, Laham told police. He said the group had gone out shooting that week.

At this point, only Laham has been accused of a crime -- on December 30, he was formally advised about a charge of reckless child abuse resulting in death, a class-two felony that carries a possible sixteen to 48 years in prison. A hearing on his bond, currently at $40,000, has been set for 9 a.m. tomorrow at the Jefferson County courthouse, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for January 24.

Look below to get a better look at Laham's mug shot, followed by the complaint and affidavit outlining the tragic events that ended Rolyn Javier's life.

Adam Laham.

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Michael Roberts has written for Westword since October 1990, serving stints as music editor and media columnist. He currently covers everything from breaking news and politics to sports and stories that defy categorization.